Search Results for 'Pat Holmes'

It was generally felt that the Mayo u21s would not be prevented from winning their fourth Connacht title in a row at Markievicz Park last Saturday evening, having disposed of the two big heavy weights; Galway and Roscommon in earlier rounds. After 15 minutes of the match in Sligo it was very evident that Sligo were in the ‘also ran’ category! It was only a question of the margin of victory, and as it transpired Mayo ran out very comfortably on a final score line that flattered them a little. In fairness to Sligo they battled bravely right to the end, but they just didn’t have anything like the quality of players that Mayo possessed. Mayo scored 3-11 from play over the 60 or so minutes of the game and right from the throw in it was evident that management had their troops focused on the task at hand. Unfortunately, from a spectator point of view, this match didn’t represent great value for money as Sligo really had no answer to the slick mobility of the opposition. This Mayo team have already provided sufficient entertainment in two brilliant performances against Galway and Roscommon. It was difficult enough to select a man of the match as practically every Mayo player had his moments. Billy Fitzpatrick who had this task for Mid West Radio selected Jason Doherty, and it would be hard to disagree with him as Jason has improved with every outing so far this year and is playing with great confidence and authority. Aidan O’ Shea has been very good at every level this year and I thought that he in particular produced a flawless display from start to finish last Saturday. Kevin McLoughlin is another who has caught the eye and having watched him up close on three occasions I have to say this guy is the real deal. He kicked a magnificent point off his left foot from the left wing in the first half that was as fine a score as you will witness this year. Cathal Carolan got through his customary truck load of toil in another performance of relentless intensity. Tom Parsons has returned to the form that we witnessed a year or two ago and there must surely be no one doubting his talent at this stage. Eoghan Reilly, son of Tom (Monaghan and Castlebar) is another I would suggest can step up to the next level. His labour is rarely high profile (most defenders fall into this category) but he just toils away selflessly, always alert to imminent danger like a smart defender should be. I mentioned last week the immense contribution of Noel Connelly, Pat Holmes, and Mícheál Collins who have managed Mayo u21s for the last four years. They deserve a lot of credit for producing a team that are always well drilled, well disciplined, and keen to play the game as it is meant to be played.

Sixty minutes is all that stands in the way of the Mayo under 21s and a place in this year’s All Ireland final. Pat Holmes collected his fourth consecutive Connacht title after a comprehensive win over Sligo which wrapped up the provincial honours following tough wins over Galway and Roscommon earlier in the competition. Standing in their way are Downwho claimed the Ulster title on Wednesday evening following a one-point win over Armagh.

Standing in the broad sunshine in Pearse Park, Longford, last Saturday as evening began to creep across the midlands a disappointed but still positive Pat Holmes picked his way through the questions that followed his side’s third consecutive defeat in an All Ireland u21 semi-final. “Of course you are disappointed, that you didn't get another step when you come out of your province. But some very fine players have emerged for Mayo. The group of players that we had, you couldn't fault any of them for attitude for commitment, and I believe that they all gave to their full potential, but what more can you ask for?” Despite tasting defeat Holmes is confident that the players who have now passed on from his tutelage at this grade and some who are still under-age next year will have a big say in the future fortunes of Mayo football.

After the pre-season warm up session on the far side of the Atlantic it’s back to more traditional fare, albeit on a Saturday evening for Mayo. And with McHale Park getting the go ahead, it’s all systems go for the welcoming of Roscommon to Castlebar for the first time in five years, and four years after the sides last met in the Connacht Championship.

I had the privilege of introducing the last man who captained a successful Mayo All Ireland winning minor team to my own young man and a few of the Castlebar under- 12s at their training session last Saturday morning at McHale Park. Michael Fitzmaurice, captain of the Mayo minors in 1985, approached my car with a bag of footballs on his back. I hadn’t a clue who he was until he removed his cap. Even then it took me a second or two to recognise the former star as, like a few more of us he is, by now, follically challenged. He sat into the car and we chatted football for a while. I was delighted to discover that he was a part time GAA coaching officer, travelling around to a number of national schools down around his home place, Lacken. Michael was a great footballer and I recall making a number of telephone calls to his home in the mid nineties trying to persuade him to get involved with the Mayo senior set up of my tenure. He couldn’t make the commitment at the time for a number of reasons and I have to say it was our loss. Still it was good to have the chat and to reminisce about times past. Michael had spent the morning working with a Mayo under-14 development squad and I am sure they will be better players because of his tutoring. So also will the national school kids in and around Lacken.

Mayo may well be the bookies’ favourites to win Sunday’s All Ireland semi-final clash against Down, but the favourites’ tag is something that Ray Dempsey has never paid much heed to as an inter county player and as an inter county manager since he took the reins of the Mayo minor side in 2008. The Knockmore man who brought last year’s batch of minors to within seconds of claiming Mayo’s first All Ireland minor title since 1985 last year, is once again only 60 minutes away from the last Sunday in September and an All Ireland final day out in front of a packed Croke Park.

If friendship was to be measured by the number of times I called to John Naughton’s house to say hello, I was not John’s friend at all, for I never called to his home, nor he to mine and this despite the fact that he only lived over the road from me here in Castlebar. But I have known John all of my adult life because he played in goal for the Crossmolina senior football team for years. Unfortunately John lost his brave battle with cancer and passed away last week. John was a very clever, gifted, man who knew things that others didn’t. He was interested in predictable things like Gaelic football, his farm and livestock, and loved his work with the HSE in Castlebar Hospital. He always struck me as being a wise man. He remained passionate about the Crossmolina football team even after he stopped playing. When I made my way on to the senior team in Crossmolina John was already the well established custodian, having played in goals for years prior to my arrival. He took his game seriously and was never shy in making a suggestion as to how the opposition would be beaten, or offering his point of view on what was going awry in a game. John had notions of grandeur for the club. He wasn’t content with the junior medal won in 1975 or the intermediate title won in 1980. He wanted the team to be the best it could be, to be up there with the top teams competing for the county senior title annually. He was one of the real leaders in the dressing room during my indoctrination. At that time I was a young naive defender on the team and John often pulled me aside before, during, and after games to offer encouragement and advice, for which I was most grateful for. What I loved about those words was the fact that they were delivered in the language of the plain man. In other words, there was no doubt in my mind about the content of the message delivered! John’s manner was genial, his humour easy, and his mind acute. He was enormously proud of the achievements of his native Crossmolina, particularly the All Ireland club victory in 2001. On big match days, whether it was Mayo or Crossmolina that was involved, John would have the field in front of the house bedecked in the Mayo and Crossmolina colours. The display of a variety of paraphernalia, bunting, and flags signalled the fact that a serious follower of the GAA lived in the house behind the field. An enormous crowd of old GAA friends and colleagues, from as far away as Co. Tyrone, turned out for his funeral last weekend to bid farewell to a good man who loved his sport. John would have been immensely proud of his son Kieran who bravely took to the field last Sunday to assist his club, Castlebar Mitchell’s, get through their quarter-final replay vs Shrule/Glencorrib successfully. It can’t have been easy.

It was third time lucky for Ciaran McBrien’s men last Sunday as they claimed the Moclair Cup thanks to a three point win over Knockmore in the county senior final. The east Mayo men were deserving winners over an injury hit side from north Mayo who lacked the killer punch up front denied to them by the absence of Aidan Kilcoyne and Damien Munnelly, but that is of little worry to Charlestown who went out and did what they had to do. David ‘Ginger’ Tiernan rolled back the years with a tireless display in the middle of the field which saw him rightfully rewarded with a man of the match trophy after the game but good performances from the likes of Richard Haran which saw him score four points, John Casey in goal who pulled off a few good saves one late on when Knockmore were battling for a goal to save the tie and substitute Brian O’Connell who offered them something different in attack when they needed it, during the final scuffles saw them over the line. And after the celebrations died down this week, attention will turn to the Connacht Club championship, a competition the east Mayo men won the last time they were county champions back in 2001.

“You’ve got to dance with the ladies that are in the hall, as they say,” is Ciaran McBrien’s outlook as he thinks about the injuries he has to deal with ahead of this Sunday’s refixed Connacht club final against Corofin. The Charlestown manager already knew that he would be without the influence and experience of David Tiernan for this final due to injury, and star forward Richie Haran was going to be another major doubt for the game last weekend with a broken bone in his hand. The extra week has given Haran some more time to recover, but McBrien does not know if it is going to be enough. “It’s one of the hardest breaks to heal we’ve been told, they reckon it will be a six to eight week injury whichever way you look at it, but we hope he’s able to make it in some form.”

The freezing conditions that have beset the country have seen the cancellation of the first round of games in the Connacht FBD League this weekend. The Connacht council announced the decision on Wednesday saying: “Due to hazardous driving conditions and having checked the weather forecast for the weekend Connacht GAA Council has postponed the start of the FBD Insurance League until Sunday January 17.” Mayo were scheduled to open their FBD League campaign with a tie in Garrymore against the students from NUIG on Sunday, but all the ties have now been put back a week due to the snow and ice. Mayo will now start their campaign on Sunday week, and follow it up with a game at home to Sligo IT on Sunday January 24 in Charlestown, and wrap up the league stages on Sunday January 31 in Ballinlough against Roscommon. The home final for the league has been pencilled in for either Saturday February 20 or Sunday February 28, and the final against New York on Sunday October 10.